Abstract
Birth weight is a crucial indicator of mothers and infants nutritional status. It determines a newborn's likelihood of survival, their growth and their psychological development. This study examines the socio-economic inequalities of low birth weight in Sri Lanka using the first island-wide Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2016. Nearly 17% of babies are reported as low birth weight (LBW) and the prevalence has stagnated for nearly two decades in Sri Lanka. LBW is indicative of inequalities in particular population subgroups. There is a lack of research on LBW inequalities and the contribution of different socio-economic determinants to these inequalities in Sri Lanka. A stepwise multivariate linear regression, health inequality measures and decomposition method are used to examine inequalities in LBW. Maternal body mass index (BMI), height, antenatal visits, birth interval, wealth and ethnicity are significantly associated with mean birth weight. Findings reveal that inequalities exist, where LBW is concentrated among the poorest households. The decomposition results highlight maternal BMI, education and ethnicity as major contributing factors for such inequalities. These findings suggest prioritising the nutritional needs of mothers and relevant interventions to address inequalities in birth weight to reduce the stagnated LBW in Sri Lanka.
Highlights
Birth weight is a crucial indicator for determining a newborn’s likelihood of survival, growth, long-term health and psychological development [1,3]
The mean birth weight of the infants was reported as 2,917 grams and 16.9% of the infants were born with low birth weight (LBW)
This study clearly demonstrates that maternal factors such as maternal body mass index (BMI), gestational months and birth interval have a very strong influence on birth weight
Summary
Birth weight is a crucial indicator for determining a newborn’s likelihood of survival, growth, long-term health and psychological development [1,3]. The proportion of babies born with a low birth weight ( LBW) defined as a birth weight below 2500 grams, remains a significant global health concern [1,2]. Reducing LBW is one of the global nutrition target which is crucial in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for health [8]. Many contributing factors have been postulated to determine the birth weight of a newborn. These diverse factors are grouped into categories such as maternal and socioeconomic factors. These categories can be identified such as maternal age, maternal body mass index (BMI), maternal nutrition, pregnancy intervals, gestational age, smoking and alcohol consumption, educational level and economic status, etc. [9,10,11,12,13,14]
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